AEW Teases Sneak Peek At Its New Game, Kenny Omega Confirms 2022 Launch Goal

A better look at AEW’s first-ever console game next week, and further confirmation that it might be here this year.

AEW higher-ups revealed very early on into the promotion’s existence that it was already working on the company’s first-ever console game. It might have let the cat out of the bag a little early in that regard as AEW is now three years old and the game still isn’t here. In fact, it doesn’t even have a release date attached, nor have we seen any gameplay beyond a couple of very early, very short clips featuring Jungle Boy and Darby Allin, along with a few others.

The wait could soon be over, though. It was teased yesterday, and then confirmed on Dynamite, that fans will get a sneak peek of the new game via All Elite Arcade on May 4. “Follow AEW Games Twitch for Notifactions! Tune in at 11 a.m. on May 4th for Console Game sneak peak,” the tweet reads. Excalibur made the same announcement live on Dynamite a few hours later.

Hopefully the sneak peek will be something more akin to a trailer than the test footage we have seen so far. If the timeframe reportedly connected to the game is accurate, then it’s probably safe to assume a better look at what the game is actually going to be is coming. It was reported a short while ago that a September 2022 release might be possible, and now Kenny Omega has confirmed the aim is to get the game out there before the end of the year.

“We’re working real hard on trying to get something that is presentable, trying to get something that is gonna be complete, ASAP and hopefully that means this year,” Omega said during an appearance on Put Your Quarters On The Glass. He also pointed to new materials being revealed soon, which was likely a reference to the announcement made on Twitter and then Dynamite last night as his podcast appearance came before the news broke.

News surrounding AEW’s first console game appears to be emerging more and more frequently, strongly suggesting a full reveal is in the offing. There were even reports earlier this month that fans in attendance for a Rampage taping were asked to perform chants that were recorded for the game. It’s also believed Tony Khan revealed the game will be called Fight Forever while those chants were being recorded.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 4/27/22

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite on TBS will air live from the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the build for Double Or Nothing continues.

* Lance Archer vs. Wardlow

* Hikaru Shida vs. Serena Deeb in a Philly Street Fight

* The Young Bucks, Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish vs. The Varsity Blondes, Dante Martin, Brock Anderson and Lee Johnson

* AAA & ROH World Tag Team Champions FTR face off against each other in a qualifier for The Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament, with CM Punk on commentary

* AEW TNT Champion Sammy Guevara defends against Scorpio Sky in a Ladder Match

TBS And TNT No Longer Developing New Scripted Programming

Warner Bros. Discovery has decided to cut new scripted programming from both TBS and TNT for the time being, according to a report from Variety.

WarnerMedia was recently merged with Discovery, and they are already making changes. AEW was not mentioned in the report, and it is not known if the move will affect AEW, live event programming or reality shows in any way. Last year WarnerMedia was hiring a “Director, Scripted Development & Programming” for AEW and it was noted that four AEW series were in development, which included “Rhodes to the Top.”

It is unclear what is going to be happening with ongoing scripted shows on TBS and TNT, such as Snowpiercer. Warner Bros. However, scripted content on both TBS and TNT had been slowing down anyway in recent years. TBS was only airing four scripted shows prior to this report, while TNT has just two.

When it comes to AEW, the company has a deal that runs through 2023, that was originally signed back in 2020. AEW commentator Tony Schiavone recently spoke about the Discover/Warner Media merger. He told his What Happened When podcast that he does not believe AEW needs to have any immediate concerns. For him, AEW is a viable product for Discovery to consider.

“From the people I’ve talked with, no,” Schiavone responded when asked if AEW should have any concerns. “For me on the surface, yes, because I know what happened before [with WCW]. But I think we have a viable enough product that if Discovery says, ‘We don’t want wrestling,’ we could end up somewhere else.

“The Khans are pretty plugged in. That’s what’s different about this era is that if Time Warner/Discovery doesn’t want us, we still have a business. I think there’s always some concern, but we’ve built up a very good relationship with Warner Media.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Hangman Page Off AEW Dynamite Tonight Due To COVID-19

A familiar face will be missing from AEW Dynamite tonight in the form of Hangman Page.

The AEW World Champion announced on Twitter this morning that he will not be at the show after he has fallen ill with COVID-19. Hangman Page still implored fans to enjoy the show despite his absence.

“Dynomite is tonight at 8pm on TBS but i will not be on there because my face is full of covid snot, sorry,” Page tweeted, intentionally misspelling Dynamite. “Please enjoy regardless.”

Hangman Page had not been scheduled for AEW Dynamite prior to this morning, though it was expected there would be a follow-up to a stare-down Page had with CM Punk last week following Punk’s victory over Dustin Rhodes. Punk himself will appear on AEW Dynamite tonight, doing commentary for the Owen Hart Cup qualifying match between FTR members Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood.

AEW Dynamite will take place tonight in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 4/22/22

Tonight’s AEW Rampage episode was taped earlier this week from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

* Adam Cole vs. Tomohiro Ishii in a qualifier for The Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament, the opening match of the night

* Lance Archer vs. Serpentico

* Eddie Kingston vs. Daniel Garcia. Santana, Ortiz and Jericho Appreciation Society members are banned from ringside

* AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill defends against Marina Shafir in the main event

* Tony Schiavone interviews Keith Lee and Swerve Strickland

* Tony Schiavone interviews The Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament participants Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter, and Toni Storm

* Appearances by Shawn Spears, Rocky Romero, Jay White, Orange Cassidy, and more

AEW’s New Video Game Will Be Called Fight Forever

Within AEW‘s first year, some of those within the company confirmed that work had already begun on the promotion’s first video game. Revealing that information might have been a mistake as at the time, wrestling fans were used to WWE launching a game every single year. Since then, WWE 2K has taken more than two years to work on WWE 2K22, and AEW taking its time over what will be its very first console game is being encouraged.

Even though a recent report suggested the game could be here by September, details about it are still few and far between. However, Tony Khan has finally revealed what the game will actually be called. The AEW owner appeared in front of the in-house crowd for this week’s Rampage taping, revealing to them that the game will be called AEW: Fight Forever. The company filed a trademark for that name last month according to The Wrestling Observer.

Fans at the taping were encouraged to chant Fight Forever so they could be recorded and used in the game, which is pretty cool for anyone in attendance. A number of wrestler chants were also started up and recorded for the games including FTR, Aubrey Edwards, Cash Wheeler, Dax Harwood, Jeff Hardy, Sting, Adam Cole, and Hangman Page, indicating some of the other wrestlers who will be a part of the roster.

No big surprises there, of course, but perhaps a couple of interesting ones. Cole and Hardy being in the game even though they signed with AEW within the last year. Edwards having her own chant is also a cool inclusion. WWE games don’t tend to use different or even recognizable referees. AEW makes a bigger deal of its refs though, particularly Edwards who is the promotion’s leading official.

AEW’s game finally having a name leans into the reports that it could well be here before the end of 2022, as well as the news that there is now a publisher attached. Very little has been revealed about its gameplay at this point though, and there hasn’t really been anything close to a proper trailer. That might well be coming soon, and perhaps the chants recorded for Fight Forever this week will make a cameo appearance.

Source: TheSportster

AEW and NJPW Announce Crossover Pay-Per-View “Forbidden Door”

AEW, the second-biggest wrestling promotion in the United States, will partner with Japan’s number one promotion NJPW to produce a crossover pay-per-view called “Forbidden Door” in Chicago on June 26.

The announcement was made during last night’s AEW Dynamite. AEW President Tony Khan appeared on the ramp and was soon joined by New Japan Pro Wrestling president Takami Ohbari. TK was about to make the announcement, but the pair of promoters was interrupted by Adam Cole, a man who knows NJPW very well.

Cole appeared on the big screen and announced an event called “Forbidden Door” which will feature talent from both All Elite Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Cole then revealed that he will be going one-on-one with New Japan veteran Tomohiro Ishii on Friday’s Rampage. New Japan roster member “Switchblade” Jay White then joined Khan and Ohbari on the ramp to boast about selling out Madison Square Garden and remind everyone that it’s still the Bullet Club era.

AEW Dynamite Preview 4/20/22

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite on TBS will air live from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the Road to Double Or Nothing continues.

* The Dynamite debut of Hook vs. TBA

* CM Punk vs. Dustin Rhodes

* Wardlow vs. The Butcher

* Britt Baker vs. Danielle Kamella in a qualifier for The Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament

* Kyle O’Reilly vs. AEW World Tag Team Champion Jungle Boy in a qualifier for The Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament

* Darby Allin vs. Andrade El Idolo in a Coffin Match

* Tony Khan has a “huge announcement” to make

Wrestling Community Divided On Barbed Wire Crown Spot From AEW Rampage

A spot during the Texas Deathmatch for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship between ‘Hangman’ Page and Adam Cole has stirred up some controversy on social media.

Some legends of the pro wrestling business reacted to a tweet sent out by Fightful‘s Sean Ross Sapp where he posted a video of the spot in question. With the show airing live on the Christian holiday, Good Friday, some eyebrows were raised when ‘Hangman’ Page placed a crown of barbed wire on the head of Adam Cole at the conclusion of the bout.

For those unfamiliar, Good Friday is the Friday before Easter Sunday, on which Jesus Christ was tortured, had a crown of thorns placed upon his head, and was then Crucified to a cross. There were obviously parallels between the crown of thorns and the barbed wire crown, and viewers noticed.

Sapp’s tweet accompanied the clip with the caption, “Lmaoooooo Hangman Page put a crown of barbed wire on Adam Cole’s head on Good Friday.” Finding humor in the situation was something Eric Bischoff seemingly did not, as he wrote back, “You find this funny?”

Another veteran, Brian “Road Dogg” James also chimed into a debate on the topic, asking, “Would it be ok if they mocked ANY other religion?”

The fan perception was varied in their response, with one fan going as far as to vow they will quit watching AEW altogether because of the “unacceptable” part of the match. Others pointed to the various times religion was poked fun at in WWE — the Austin 3:16 idea being a spin-off of John 3:16, Vince McMahon’s infamous angle with Shawn Michaels and God, etc.

Page ultimately emerged victoriously and retained the AEW World Championship yesterday, following up the barbed wire crown of thorns with a Deadeye through a table for the 1-2-3. You can see full results from last night’s show at this link.

You can see the spot from AEW Rampage below, as well as various tweets:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Jonathan Gresham Reportedly Signs With AEW

ROH World Champion & PROGRESS Unified World Champion Jonathan Gresham has reportedly signed with AEW.

After weeks of speculation, a new report from Fightful Select confirms that Gresham has signed an AEW contract that will also see him perform for ROH.

Gresham will make his AEW TV debut at Battle of The Belts II this Saturday night on TNT as he defends the Ring of Honor strap against ROH veteran Dalton Castle.

AEW has also signed “Gates of Agony” Kaun and Toa Liona to similar contracts, as reported earlier this week. Word is that there are other talents who are signed to these AEW/ROH contracts, and names should be confirmed soon.

Gresham became the Undisputed ROH World Champion by defeating Bandido in the main event of ROH Supercard of Honor on April 1, which was the first show booked by new ROH owner Tony Khan.

Gresham has worked for Impact Wrestling in recent months, and will face Eddie Edwards in a non-title match at the Rebellion pay-per-view on April 23. There’s no word yet on if this will be his final date for Impact.

Gresham has also worked several indie dates in recent months, but there’s no word on if this new AEW/ROH contract will allow him to continue taking those bookings. Gresham captured the PROGRESS Wrestling Unified World Title on March 20 at Chapter 130 by defeating Cara Noir. Since then he has retained over Malik and Warren Banks, but there’s no word on how the AEW/ROH contract will impact his PROGRESS run.

Source: Wrestling Inc.